When the Time is Right
by cixelsyd
Summary: This fic takes place after the Spring play but before Jamie dies. This is not a Jamie/Landon fic...


"When the Time is Right"  
  
By Kimi and Laura  
  
Disclaimer: We don't own any of the characters from the movie...but we own Tristan and His Family.  
  
Author's note: Tristan looks like a young Hayden Christensen...like from Higher Ground.  
  
  
  
Chapter One  
  
"Landon, look. You and I...it just doesn't work. I'm sorry," Jamie sighed, trying to find the right words, "but I can't go out with you."  
  
"Jamie, how can you be so sure? You of all people should give me a chance. It's called faith. The same thing your own father talks about at church, the same thing you taught me for the play."  
  
"No, you don't understand! Landon...I...I can't. I'm so sorry, but I can't. Its not that I don't like you, I just don't want you to be hurt."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"I just can't tell you. But maybe one day you'll understand."  
  
She didn't look up to see the hurt expression in his eyes. She only paused long enough to grab the door handle and quickly shut the door.  
  
Her footsteps echoed dully on the wooden stairs as she slowly made her way toward her bedroom. Emotions tumbled around in her mind, churning into a mass of sadness, anger and regret.  
  
"Jamie? What's wrong with you? I was writing me sermon and I heard you slam the door and run upstairs."  
  
She paused in mid-step.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," she smiled thinly, "I'm just tired."  
  
"Okay, as long as you are okay."  
  
She walked into her room, and collapsed onto her bed, sobbing.  
  
  
  
"Mom, why won't she go out with me?" he asked, frustrated.  
  
"Landon, you haven't exactly been 'Mr. Nice' to her, give her time to think about it."  
  
He sighed. "It's so hard, though. Seeing her everyday and everything."  
  
"I know. But you have to give her time. It's not everyday a girl like Jamie Sullivan gets asked out by a guy like you."  
  
Landon nodded. His mom was right. He would just have to wait.  
  
**********  
  
The Next Day -  
  
"Jamie, did you change your mind?" Landon asked as he saw her in the corridor of Beaufort H.S.  
  
"No, I didn't." She said and walked away.  
  
He chased after her until she turned around to look at him.  
  
"Okay, are you going to follow me until I say yes?"  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"Well, you'll be following me for a while."  
  
"Come on Jamie, just give it a shot! You know, the one thing you believe in most is forgiveness, and that is all that I'm asking of you . I am sorry for all the things I have done in the past. Jamie, all I am asking for is a little bit of faith."  
  
She looked away, not wanting to listen anymore. She was afraid of how far he would go to get her, but even more afraid of the fact that he was right.  
  
She turned and walked away as fast as she could  
  
"Jamie! Wait! Please!"  
  
She whirled around, her eyes filled with anger yet sadness. Landon ran up to her and rested his hand on her shoulder. She pulled away from his touch.  
  
"Please?" he asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.  
  
"No, Landon. I can't explain it." her voice cracked with emotion.  
  
She turned around once more and continued walking. When Landon didn't follow, she sighed with relief.  
  
She walked into her classroom to find a new face, took a seat next to the new student and introduced herself.  
  
"Hello, my name is Jamie Sullivan."  
  
"Uhm, hi my name is Tristan... Malloy."  
  
"Where were you born?"  
  
"You tell me first." he said with a serious look on his face.  
  
"Oh, okay fine."  
  
She seemed uncertain with his open hostility towards everyone.  
  
"I was born and raised here in Beaufort."  
  
Just then, the history teacher, Mr. Jones, walked into the classroom.  
  
"Good morning class. Yesterday, I assigned you to read chapters 22 - 25. Who honestly read them?"  
  
Jamie's hand was the only one up.  
  
"Well then, the rest of the class... read it now and Jaime and Tristan, please come here."  
  
"Yes sir?" Jamie asked.  
  
"Can you show Tristan around the school?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
Jamie and Tristan walked out into the hallway. Jamie showed him every room on every floor when they saw Landon at the drinking fountain.  
  
"Hey, Jamie." Landon said.  
  
"Hi..."  
  
"Uhm, who's your friend?"  
  
"Oh, this is Tristan. Tristan this is Landon."  
  
"Hey." said Landon.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"We better be going, Mr. Jones wants me to show Tristan around the school."  
  
"Okay, I'll call you."  
  
"Don't bother, I won't pick up."  
  
Landon was amazed at what Jamie just said to him and walked away.  
  
"Wow, you are a really nice person." Tristan remarked.  
  
"Funny..."  
  
"Well, I have to go to the bathroom, I know where it is... I'll be right back."  
  
"I'll be waiting." she said with a smile.  
  
Tristan came back and uneasily smiled at Jamie.  
  
"So, you never told me where you were from." she reminded him.  
  
"Do you really want to know?"  
  
"I would like to."  
  
"Fine," he sighed and reluctantly answered, "I'm from Washington D.C."  
  
"Oh, that's nice."  
  
"I heard your father was the reverend."  
  
"Yeah he is. What does your father do?"  
  
"He isn't my father, he is my stepfather."  
  
"Oh, okay."  
  
They continued walking. They heard the bell ring and saw a stampede of people came through the hallway.  
  
"It's like rush hour." Tristan mumbled.  
  
"Well, I have to go to lunch now. What class do you have?"  
  
"Same."  
  
"Oh okay, I'll point you the way."  
  
Jamie and Tristan went to the cafeteria. They got their lunches and sat down.  
  
Jamie sat next to Tristan and saw him put his headphones on.  
  
"You know, those things make you seem unapproachable." she commented.  
  
"Good. Well, that Bible you have seems to make you unapproachable too."  
  
"At least I don't do it on purpose."  
  
He paused for a moment. "I've never met anyone like you before."  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"I've never met someone before that carried the Bible around, didn't have any friends, and..." Jamie cringed, expecting him to say something worse.  
  
"...was so openly friendly towards everyone. It's not that I don't like you, I'm just surprised."  
  
She smiled. "Is it a good or bad surprise?"  
  
He shrugged. "I'm not sure."  
  
******************  
  
Monday morning at school.  
  
"Hey Jamie,"  
  
She spun around. It was Landon.  
  
"I didn't see you at church yesterday."  
  
"I was busy."  
  
"Too busy for God?" she asked and walked away.  
  
"Jamie wait!"  
  
But it was too late for Landon. Jamie was already out of his sight.  
  
After searching through the halls for a while, Landon saw Jamie and Tristan talking and laughing at her locker.  
  
Landon walked up to them and shoved Tristan away.  
  
"What does he have that I don't? You know, I see you flirting with him like you've actually known him for a while."  
  
"Landon, I can't believe you behavior. I wasn't flirting with him, I haven't known him for a while, and he actually does have some qualities you don't."  
  
Jamie and Landon continued their conversation as Tristan picked himself off of the floor.  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Well he actually came to church this Sunday. He doesn't even belong to the parish... he just went as a thank-you for showing him around last week."  
  
"So, I would have done that."  
  
"But you didn't."  
  
"But I will. Thank you."  
  
"Too late."  
  
Tristan came up behind Jamie and glared at Landon. Right when he was about to walk away, Landon came up and pushed even harder that he did before.  
  
"Ah!" he cried as he landed on the floor, obviously in pain.  
  
"Landon!"  
  
He didn't turn to her, he just walked away.  
  
Jamie helped Tristan up, and noticed how he winced in pain when she touched his arm.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"Uhm...yeah, I think so."  
  
"You don't look okay. Just how hard did he shove you?"  
  
"Actually...not that hard at all..I told you, I'm okay."  
  
"No, you're wincing whenever I touch your arm."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
She grabbed his arm.  
  
"Ow! That hurt!"  
  
"See!"  
  
"That's only because you grabbed my arm really hard."  
  
"Maybe, but I'm looking at it anyway."  
  
She grabbed his arm again, and pulled up his sleeve.  
  
"Oh my gosh! How did you get that!?" She said, motioning toward the large bruise on his arm.  
  
"I...uh...slipped on a skateboard."  
  
"I didn't know you skateboarded."  
  
"There are a lot of things about me you don't know..." he replied with an uneasy smile.  
  
"Well, tell me."  
  
"Oh, I'll tell you a lot of things you don't know...when the time is right."  
  
"Sure."  
  
***************  
  
Later that day.  
  
"Where do you live?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I want to know, just in case you live near me."  
  
"Oh, okay. I live on 80 Westford Ave."  
  
"Wow, that's only a few blocks from my house. Maybe we can walk home together since you're on the way."  
  
"Sure."  
  
When school let out, they walked to his house. It was only less that a mile away, but Jamie was getting easily tired due it her sickness. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, and she tripped and fell on his driveway.  
  
"Ouch!" Jamie cried.  
  
"Oh, are you okay?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Let me go inside to get a band-aid. Here, you can wait on the porch."  
  
"Uh, it really hurts. I might need some ice. Can I come in?"  
  
"I'll get ice too. Just stay out here. I promise I'll be really quick."  
  
She eyed him suspiciously, but agreed. Tristan ran into the house.  
  
When he came back, he had a cut on his cheek.  
  
"Here."  
  
"Thank you, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Well, sure."  
  
"What happened to your cheek?"  
  
"Oh, I just..... Well something kind of, I just... I dropped the band-aid and scraped my cheek on a counter top."  
  
"Okay. Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah I'll be fine. So what do you do around here for fun?" he changed the subject.  
  
"Well, school work and volunteering. At least that's what I do."  
  
"That's nice.  
  
"I better be going. My father is expecting me."  
  
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Jamie walked away. As she got closer to her house she realized how tired she was. She remembered her leukemia, and how she would keep getting weaker and weaker until she died. Normally, she would walk this route easily twice a day, but today she could barely make it once. She knew her sickness wasn't anyone's fault, but she began to wonder why God had chosen to make her sick now that she had just made a friend.  
  
****************  
  
The Next Day  
  
Jamie and Tristan were walking down the hallways of their school when they spotted Landon staring at Jamie.  
  
"Maybe you should talk to him." Tristan said, concerned.  
  
"I have nothing to say to him." she replied.  
  
Landon ran up to Jamie and pulled her away.  
  
"Jamie, one date is all I'm asking for. Please." Landon pleaded.  
  
"Landon, now I'm starting to think of you as an annoying and desperate guy with no life. Look, I know you better than that so I'll give you one chance. one chance to leave me alone."  
  
"If you know me like you say you do, you would know that I don't give up."  
  
"Please, just leave me alone."  
  
Landon looked over at Tristan. "Its because of him isn't it?"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"It's obvious, so obvious."  
  
"I'm sorry, but I just don't understand."  
  
Landon tapped his foot impatiently. "Are you going out with him?"  
  
Jamie looked shocked, "What?! Of course not. I think it would be obvious that I'm not allowed to date. Don't you?"  
  
"Well, I just thought no one has ever asked you out..."  
  
"Well, there was this one time not to long ago when this loser with no life followed me around begging me to go out with him. does that ring a bell?"  
  
"Funny. Please?"  
  
"I can't believe you! You are so relentless!"  
  
"That's because I'm determined."  
  
"I will never say yes to you. I promise that to God."  
  
"How do you know? Priests say not to swear."  
  
"I am not swearing, I'm promising."  
  
"Yeah, but you're making a promise I know you can't keep."  
  
"Prove it."  
  
"I will."  
  
"Fine, do what you please. It won't work."  
  
She walked away towards Tristan, leaving Landon behind.  
  
Tristan looked confused. "What was that about?"  
  
"Nothing, he has been begging me to go out with him."  
  
"Maybe that's why he hates me."  
  
"Nobody truly hates anybody; he just doesn't like you... much. Plus, what does that supposed to mean? 'Maybe that's why he hates me'?"  
  
"Well, I hang out with you more than he does..."  
  
"So."  
  
"Maybe he wants to be close to you. Like hanging out with you and stuff."  
  
"I think that's obvious enough."  
  
He changed the subject, "You know, you were the first friend I made here, well to be honest, the only friend."  
  
"You were the first real friend I've had in a while." she admitted to him and herself.  
  
They walked to Tristan's locker and Jamie saw his school bag was beat up and sad looking.  
  
"So, when is your birthday?" she asked.  
  
"May 4th.a month from now. When's yours?"  
  
"December 5th."  
  
"Cool, very cool." he commented.  
  
****************  
  
Later that day, on the way to Tristan's house.  
  
"Well, my house is right there. So, do you want to come in?"  
  
"Oh, now that I'm not bleeding you let me in?" she replied in mock anger.  
  
"I'm sorry about that. My parents were home and they are not people persons... well, at least my step dad isn't."  
  
"Oh I see."  
  
"Yeah, let's go in, but be quick, and if you hear a car pull up, run out the back door."  
  
"Fine, but why?"  
  
"Because I would get in trouble for having company."  
  
"Then I will wait here."  
  
"No it's okay, we'll be really quick."  
  
"Oh, okay."  
  
They walked up the porch steps and made their way into the house. Jamie saw that the house was really nice and clean.  
  
"Let's go upstairs."  
  
"Okay."  
  
They went up the stairs and went into the first room on the left. It was messy unlike the rest of the house.  
  
"Here's my room."  
  
"Err, the color is nice..."  
  
He looked around and saw the mess they were standing in.  
  
"I'm I know it's messy, but I haven't had the chance to clean it."  
  
"That's okay."  
  
Just then, they heard a car door slam.  
  
Tristan motioned for her to be quiet, and grabbed her arm and led her out of the room.  
  
They made it halfway down the stairs when the front door opened.  
  
"Tristan, I'm home." his mom called through the doorway.  
  
He visibly sighed with relief.  
  
"Okay, I'll be right down."  
  
"Tristan, is that your mom?"  
  
"Yeah, come down and meet her."  
  
"Sure."  
  
They walked down the stairs into the kitchen and saw his mom.  
  
"Mom, this is Jamie Sullivan... the reverend's daughter."  
  
"Why hello Jamie. I am very pleased to meet you. I haven't had the chance to go to Sunday mass because of my job but I have been looking forward to the chance to make it."  
  
Jamie smiled sweetly.  
  
"Jamie, would you like to stay for dinner? My husband will be home soon and I'm sure Tristan wants you to meet him too."  
  
Tristan suddenly looked nervous and waited for Jamie's response.  
  
"Uhm, okay. May I use the phone to call my father?" Jamie asked.  
  
"Yes, Tristan, show her to the phone."  
  
"Sure, mom."  
  
He took Jamie by the hand and led her down the hallway to the phone. He waited patiently while she spoke to her dad.  
  
When she was finished, she looked over at him and smiled. "He said I could stay, but I have to be home before 9:30."  
  
"Sounds cool to me... Want to go back up to my room?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
They made their way into his room and she saw a picture of a man that looked similar to Tristan.  
  
"That's my dad." he said noticing her looking at the picture.  
  
"Oh, you look like him... a lot."  
  
"Is that good or bad?"  
  
"I don't know." she said smiling.  
  
They took a seat on his bed and looked at pictures he had on his walls.  
  
"Who is NFG?"  
  
"Newfound Glory... they are an awesome punk rock band, they have awesome songs."  
  
"Oh, that's sounds nice."  
  
"Jamie, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Sure. Ask away."  
  
"Well, you always talk about your father but..." he hesitated, "what about your mother?"  
  
She looked away not wanting to answer. "She died in childbirth... with me."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry."  
  
Jamie smiled and looked away.  
  
He walked over to the stereo and a song started to play. The words blasted out "I know it's hard for you..."  
  
"This is my favorite NFG song." he said.  
  
"Hmm, cool."  
  
Just then, his mom called him from downstairs. "Tristan! Come down, your father's here!"  
  
"Okay Mom!" he called back.  
  
He turned to Jamie. "Let's go meet my stepfather."  
  
For some reason, he didn't look very thrilled.  
  
As they walked down the stairs, Jamie saw Tristan staring down at his feet.  
  
"Tristan, your mother called you 3 minutes ago!" his stepfather said angrily.  
  
"Uhm, I have company. This is Jamie...Jamie, this is my stepfather."  
  
"Sorry, hi Jamie. Let's go eat."  
  
"Hello, it's very nice to meet you."  
  
All four of them sat down and ate a well-made dinner.  
  
"Mrs. Monroe, dinner was wonderful. Thank you very much for inviting to eat."  
  
"Jamie, it was a pleasure to have you. I hope you can join us again."  
  
"Jamie, do you want me to walk you home now?" Tristan asked anxiously.  
  
"Sure. Thank you again." she said turning to his mom.  
  
She smiled and turned away.  
  
Jamie and Tristan walked out the doorway onto the porch when Jamie stopped.  
  
"Tristan, do you like your stepfather? I mean don't get me wrong but you seemed very... well you seemed very distant from him."  
  
"Well, to tell the truth..." he hesitated "I love him like a real father." he said with an obviously fake smile.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Of course... why would I lie?"  
  
"Maybe you were hiding something..."  
  
"Why would I be, uh, hiding something?"  
  
"Maybe - "  
  
"Can we not talk about this!? Listen, Jamie! I'm not hiding anything. Everything is OK... so stop...just stop." he yelled all of a sudden.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Don't be... just leave it there."  
  
"Okay. Well there's my house."  
  
"I'll walk you up. I want to talk to you father."  
  
She eyed him suspiciously. "Why?"  
  
"Uh... I want to ask him something."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's a surprise... okay?" he said impatiently.  
  
"Oh, I see. You don't want me to know." she said and giggled.  
  
"Stop making fun of me. If you hadn't been so nosey...." he smiled.  
  
They walked onto the porch and he rang the doorbell. Almost one second after he rung it, Rev. Sullivan opened the door.  
  
"Not a minute late, Sir." Tristan addressed.  
  
"I see that Mr. Malloy. Thank you for having her home on time."  
  
"Your welcome."  
  
"Jamie, why don't you go upstairs now." her dad motioned.  
  
"Oh... good night." Tristan said.  
  
She smiled back and gave him a hug.  
  
"Sir, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I would like your permission to take Jamie out to dinner tomorrow night."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because she was the first person I met at school and the only one who actually came up to say hello and I would like to thank her... for being my friend." he said and smiled sweetly.  
  
The reverend seemed to ponder thins for a second. He rubbed his chin and sighed. "I guess so.I've seen you in church... okay, I'll let her go. However, it's a school night, so she has to be back by 8:30."  
  
Tristan's face lit up with happiness. "Okay... thank you!"  
  
"Yes, you're welcome," he glanced at his watch, "It's getting late... you should go home now."  
  
"Okay...bye." Tristan said and walked back.  
  
Mr. Sullivan waved and went back into the house.  
  
  
  
********End of Chapter One********  
  
Yay! How was it? Please comment.. 


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